Rajkummar Rao’s last venture Judgemental Hai Kya may not have been a box office hit but the actor says his upcoming projects are keeping him on his toes. The actor faced failure in the early phase of his career but seems to be no longer daunted by it. “Failure teaches you a lot. I’ve learnt that I should avoid certain things. I don’t trust scripts which are not exciting. In fact, failure teaches you more than success. There is no guarantee that success can last long,” says Rajkummar adding that he looks forward to every day with a new zeal and enthusiasm. “Every film is a challenge for me. I get scared before the shoot but I take every project as a challenge and try to do something new and make it exciting.”
On the use of prosthetics, he says, “I try and avoid them. I did use prosthetic for the web series Bose: Dead/Alive. But mostly I avoid it. I try to change my physicality for my roles.
In Made In China, I play a Gujarati entrepreneur so I changed my physicality. I had a belly and also learnt the language. People make it loud and it becomes like a standup comedy. I wanted it to be real so I met people in Ahmedabad and recorded my conversations and used those little nuances in my roles. I ate a lot of rice and cheese, and worked so that my muscles expanded.”
Rajkummar’s last film Judgemental Hai Kya didn’t work too well but the actor says, “I thought it will do well but it didn’t. I saw the film in Agra and analysed why it didn’t work. A lot of people gave it great reviews though.” But right now the 35-year-old is looking forward to director Mikhil Musale’s Made In China.
The reason for taking up the film, he says is the script. “When I read the script I laughed a lot. It’s an aspirational journey of Raghu Mehta. We all want to do something in life and rise up. We want to do better and keep our family better. He’s a failed businessman who has tried selling everything from emu eggs to roti maker but nothing works and how he reaches China and brings something from there to sell here and how life changes for him.”
According to reports, the film has a lot of double meaning dialogues but Rajkummar refutes that claim. “I don’t have any such dialogues in the movie.
The lines are very clear and mean what they say. We are all responsible actors. Ours is a U/A film. As for sex comedies, I don’t think I will do them. It has to be really well written to tempt me. It shouldn’t be vulgar or have gags. I was offered such films earlier but I have always refused to do them.”
His forthcoming project is Hansal Mehta’s Turram Khan which is a working title and might be subject to change, says the actor. “I’m also doing director Anurag Basu’s Ludo along with Abhishek Bachchan and Aditya Roy Kapoor. I have completed shooting my part and I’m excited about the role as you have never seen me in such an avatar before.
It’s a crime comedy and I am dying to show everyone the trailer of the movie. Everything in the film is interesting right from my look to the way I speak and dance. Then, there’s director Hardik Mehta’s Roohi Afza which is complete and Netflix’s adaptation of White Tiger for which I will start shooting soon.”
About his association with producer Dinesh Vijan of Roohi Afza, he says. “We started off with Stree. But he has become more than a producer to me. He is family. We discuss everything from films to personal life. Vijan is a visionary and is very passionate about his work. He has been making phenomenal films such as Hindi Medium, Bala, Made In China and Roohi Afza.